Island Time, Nzuri Sana......

I think it's a good sign that I can't remember how long we've been here or what items we put on the grocery list, even if there were only few things. Yesterday we drove 40 minutes to the inner jungles of Zanzibar to do a small trek and follow the red monkeys. Because I had recently read about tourists and gorillas, I asked our sweet, soft spoken guide how we should react and handle the monkeys if they came up to us. He proceeded to tell me they were friendly, harmless really. And he was right. There were about 2,500 monkeys that were divided into families of 50 who traveled together flying from tree to tree and eating leaves when they could. We were lucky to be walking down the path in the middle of one family who kept crossing the path over our toes to keep with their family members. Babies were following their mothers and attempting to jump from branch to branch, but flailing aimlessly and clumsily. We were an arm's length to the monkeys for about an hour and we secretly thanked them for the entertainment. We then headed to the beach up North. The view from our lunch is above, not too shabby. White sandy beaches and beautiful sailboats in the gorgeous turquoise waters. The Indian Ocean is refreshing and you can stay in it for hours; it's salty, buoyant and warm. While we waited for lunch, I walked down to the kids fishing off of a boat at the end of the beach. I took my last shot and looked to see how the photos turned out and realized that most everyone was naked. It was a school day and they were evidently at the beach, working on catching the family dinner. They all suddenly swam to shore and all sat in front of me smiling and talking to me in Swahili. My Swahili is limited to about 50 words so I kept asking 'what is your name' and they were all so proud to tell me their names. So much fun talking with the locals.

 

We came home to a delicious meal made by our tireless house help Halima. She made rice, beans and vegetables in a red sauce. We brought home some pretty high end pots and pans yesterday, an upgrade from the tin pan she was using to cook our dinners, and she was running around the room cheering, nzuri sana, nzuri sana (it's beautiful, it's beautiful). She was equally excited this morning when we gave her the bubble wrap from our peanut butter and proceeded to pop each bubble one by one for the next hour. And also the Mr. Muscle cleaning spray we bought. She even wanted to see if she could use it to wash the dishes. We live in the neighborhood house of Dr. Mahdi, a well known malaria control local, down a dirt road near a school. We have two guardsmen who sit near the gate all evening and are excited when we bring them treats before bed. They have been working for Dr. Mahdi for 15 years.

 

Today we went to another gorgeous beach and had coconut curry under a huge veranda. We then hopped in a local boat and hopped in the water to do some snorkeling. A couple of locals waited in the boat for us and I have to say that the strong glistening bodies of these guys is something to write about. Once we got back to the beach and saw a village of kids gathering sand, and carrying it back to repair their homes, why no one on Zanzibar has an inch of anything but muscle on their bodies.

 

What I most adore is the vibrant color of all kangas and head wraps that all of the women of the island wear. Beautiful dark skin and bright colors everywhere we go with huge smiles and understated and genuine 'Jambo, habari gani?' They treat locals and tourist alike with respect, kindness and sincerity. The people of Zanzibar are so graceful and lovely and driving through the villages makes it clear that many don't need much to put a huge smile on their face.